Kremlin official denounces Moscow riots

Russian deputy presidential chief of staff Vladislav Surkov condemned the recent riots in Moscow in an interview with the Izvestia paper.

The Russian capital saw its biggest public disturbances for almost a decade on Saturday as a 5,000-strong crowd of nationalists and football hooligans clashed with police near Red Square. Rioters also attacked people from the country's North Caucasus region in protest against the death of football fan Yegor Sviridov in a brawl with North Caucasus migrants.

"Disorders threatening Muscovites' lives and attacks on police cannot be justified in any way. Neither can the murder of Yegor. Those who killed him should be in prison," Surkov told Izvestia.

At least 800 people were arrested in central Moscow on Wednesday evening as police held a massive operation to prevent further race-hate riots. Reports had earlier said that nationalists and migrants from Russia's North Caucasus were planning to clash. Many of those detained were in possession of knives and rubber bullet guns.

The official called for interethnic harmony in Russia. "This country is a common home for all our nationalities," he said.

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